"I know many former clients of welfare systems are disturbed by my probing into welfare records, because they have told me so. But I have also tried to honour those who, in the absence of records or opportunity to research them, have been unable to find out about their past. Throughout my project I have tried to respect the feelings and privacy of the individuals whose stories appear in these files. In this I have been guided by the UNSW Human Research Ethics Committee, and by the government departments who have given me permission to use their records - the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services and the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs. I do not use the real names of wards or their families, with the occasional exception of people who appeared as witnesses before public inquiries or have given me consent to use their names. I have taken pains to protect the real identities of those whose records I have read, and when I have referred to Tasmanian records I have removed any identifying information. Names I have changed are marked in italics. No outsider should be able to recognise these individuals in my writing, although some may be able to recognise their younger selves, or their parents or grandparents. I hope this does not cause pain, and that the benefit of knowing something about the past practices, and why they evolved the way they did, outweighs any personal distress I have caused by writing about them" [taken from 'a note on sources' vi]

Contents

Introduction; 'Artificial parental and filial love': The Ideology of Rescue and Boarding Out; 'Devoted to Rescue Work': Tasmanian Child Welfare, 1880-1914; 'Dear Sir, I am writing a straightforward letter... ': The Voices of the Tasmanian Child Welfare System; 'This dark blood': Indigenous Children in Tasmania's Child Welfare System 1880-1914; 'An Act of Faith': The NSW Child Welfare System, 1881-1914; 'Proper spheres of usefulness': Indigenous Children in NSW 1880-1914; 'Misdirected and Misguided': Children in Care in Tasmania, 1915-1940; 'No shame in being a nigger': Indigenous Tasmanian children 1915-1940; 'In every case happy and bright': Review and inaction in NSW, 1915-1940; 'Very close to slavery'; Conclusion: 'My mother told me never to part with them': ....... Tying threads together in Katoomba's gully; References.

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